Springtime of Love
by The Crafty Cracker
Summary: 1.) Be casually kind; 2.) Keep her happy with presents; 3.) Be open & honest; 4.) Be a little forceful at times - the steps to win your love's heart. Can our favorite ninjas manage to find romance with these tips? Maybe they can, if they only attend Might Guy's Romance Class for single shinobi in Konoha! [Multiple pairings inside.]


**I've been so inspired lately. And it's not related to the fact that I was thinking about Jim Carrie's role as Bruce Nolan of Bruce Almighty and how the name's suspiciously a cross between Bruce Wayne of Batman and its director, Christopher Nolan. Also with the fact that Morgan Freeman is in the Dark Knight Rises and says the name 'Bruce' the same way. LOL.**

**This two-shot is taken from Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth. It's going to be a comedy, so I hope I give it justice. You can choose to imagine the characters in their chibi mode or in their normal look. It's up to you. Personally, I'm writing this for their chibi versions, since I absolutely **_**adore **_**Hyuuga Neji there. His brother/cousin-complex for Hinata is KAWAII.**

**Springtime of Love**

_**A multiple pairing two-shot**_

Picture this: The Fourth Shinobi War didn't happen but the Akatsuki's attacks still happened. It just so happened that they were stopped before they could do any bigger damage. The shinobi world is in an era of peace where the villages are united in wanting to maintain said tranquility. In other words, no one died.

Picture this: The Uchiha clan still exists and Itachi is still alive, a renowned shinobi who never became a part of the Akatsuki. Uchiha Sasuke never left the village. Their skills are still great like in the manga. In the author's head, they would still be powerful and motivated even though they didn't undergo the overcomplicated emo stuff.

Picture this: Everyone from the Konoha 12 is 21 years old and they are all jounin. Tsunade is still Hokage, though the author seriously debated on making Kakashi the one. But she changed her mind and retained Tsunade.

Picture this: Team Hebi didn't exist. Karin is found out to be one of the last living survivors of the Uzumaki clan, and is therefore Naruto's relative. She and Juugo are shinobi of Konohagakure. Suigetsu is a part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist along with Choujuro.

Picture this: They each have very important roles that they fulfill. Let's start with Team 3. Tenten is now part of the ANBU and has continued on being a renowned weapons specialist. Neji has been appointed as head of shinobi relations between Konohagakure and other villages. Rock Lee became a Jounin-sensei for a three-man genin team and has since been propagating his youthfulness.

Next is Team 7. Uchiha Sasuke is a captain of an ANBU squad, with Tenten as his deputy. Haruno Sakura became the deputy director of the hospital in Konoha. Uzumaki Naruto, conqueror of Pain and Obito, was now a part of the Hokage's counselors. He also facilitates the housing of many war orphans in the village.

And then we have Team 8. Inuzuka Kiba became the head of an elite jounin tracking squad in Konoha. Aburame Shino was now also the head of the Aburame clan and married to a kunoichi. It was surprising that the unremarkable shinobi was the first one to get a girl. Hyuuga Hinata is also a jounin-sensei of a genin team and she was supposed to be reinstated as next-in-line to the Hyuuga head seat but she refused.

Team 10 has also improved a lot. Nara Shikamaru is now also part of the Hokage's counselors and is one of the candidates to assume the role as next Jounin commander. Yamanaka Ino is now Morino Ibiki's deputy at Konoha's Interrogation Unit and she sidelines as a medic in the hospital. Akimichi Choji is also proclaimed as the head of the Akimichi clan and is engaged to a civilian.

And finally, picture this: Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konoha, is concerned with the way the male shinobi treat the kunoichi. They seem to have neglected all gentlemanly behavior because the women have taken on a manly occupation of being a ninja. It was sexist, but it happened. And it irked the Hokage to no end that the females are the ones making a move to snag the men. She was seriously suspecting that every single one of them wanted to follow in Orochimaru's asexual footsteps.

She wanted the shinobi line to not only continue, but to increase. It has been pointed out to her by Shizune that many of the ninjas remained unmarried and that only a small portion chose to settle down. Tsunade could understand, since she herself remained unattached. Reasons included are that their work is far too busy and dangerous to even think of having any form of romantic relationship that can be used against themselves.

So what was the solution that our esteemed Hokage thought of?

A Romance Class.

Yes. A fucking Romance Class.

And it seemed that there was severe lack of teachers and takers for the odd job of mentoring the single jounin of Konoha because Might Guy was the one selected. Who would have thought? The man certainly did not have the real-life qualifications. He was single and women avoided him like the plague. His hot-bloodedness AKA youthfulness was something that turned _anyone _off. It certainly didn't help that his face looked like a beat-up boxer's coupled with really thick eyebrows.

The real reasoning behind the selection would be left unknown for that matter. Even the author of this story doesn't know why, except maybe to give it a more comedic effect.

They were also doing the training by batches, since there was a considerable amount of Jounin, ANBU included. They also took up an entire lecture hall inside the Konoha Academy. That's where we find our favorite characters today, sitting in different states of emotion towards the entire ordeal.

Chouji and Shino weren't included, seeing as they were already taken.

"Why the hell do we have to take this class again?" Inuzuka Kiba grumbled.

"To find girlfriends," Hatake Kakashi, who was finally found and caught by several ANBU members, said, his face buried once more behind a copy of the Icha Icha Paradise. It was a miracle that Jiraiya himself wasn't here, being very much single, but then again, who could make the man? He was already way past his prime and his eyes were still firmly set on their equally single Hokage. Who knew what could happen?

"I can find a girlfriend on my own, thank you very much!" Kiba exploded, standing up and making a motion to leave. He was stopped by Kotetsu, who was asked to guard the room.

"Anyone who leaves will answer to Hokage-sama," the man declared, effectively shooting down any chances of trying to sneak out. No one would attempt to risk facing the wrath of the strongest kunoichi in the shinobi world.

Naruto smirked at Kiba. "If you're so adept at finding a girlfriend, then why are you still single?"

"It just so happened that I'm single!" Kiba groaned. "I had a girlfriend two months ago! If this happened then, I wouldn't have to attend this stupid thing."

"Kiba-kun indeed changes girlfriends like underwear," Sai piped in, startling Naruto to death at his sudden appearance.

"Even you?!" Naruto yelled.

"Everyone's required to attend this, dobe," Uchiha Sasuke said as he entered the door, his smiling elder brother trailing behind him.

"Itachi!" Naruto greeted the older Uchiha, completely ignoring Sasuke. Itachi was the head of the ANBU and someone that Naruto really respected. He did not notice the ticking nerve in the younger Uchiha's forehead at being blatantly ignored.

"Yo, Naruto," Itachi responded, sitting with behind Sai at the third row.

"The mighty Uchiha Sasuke, attending a class on romance," Kiba insulted, smirking. "I thought you had girls fawning over you."

"That's coz the teme here has no interest in girls," Naruto said. "He even told me that he was gay. Isn't that right, Itachi?"

Uchiha Itachi could barely suppress the laughter bubbling up his chest. To avoid insulting Sasuke, he merely turned to Kakashi who was seated beside him, engaging him in a discussion about certain concealment techniques. Sasuke, in retaliation, kicked Naruto in the shins.

"OUCH! You fuck – !"

"YOSH! IS EVERYONE HERE?!" a loud voice yelled.

"This is so troublesome," Nara Shikamaru mumbled as he saw who just walked in.

"Nani?! Is he - ?" Hyuuga Neji gasped, nearly falling off his chair.

"No way! I'd rather die!" Kiba exclaimed.

"GUY-SENSEI!" an overenthusiastic Rock Lee stood up. "ARE YOU OUR TEACHER FOR THIS PASSIONATE AND YOUTHFUL CLASS?!"

The volume of Lee's voice effectively deafened the shinobi in the room. Guy did his 'Nice Guy' pose and flashed his teeth at his favorite student, "Yes, I am, Lee! I am the Master of Romance, Might Guy and I have volunteered myself to teach you the Art of Love!"

So this explained why Guy was chosen. He _volunteered._

"What the hell do you know about romance?!" Ebisu and Iruka chorused.

Kakashi inhaled deeply and lengthily, as if visibly trying to prepare himself of what was to come. He raised his book again, only to have Guy knocking it out of his hand with a punch that sent it flying outside the window.

"M-my book!" Kakashi spluttered, paling at the thought of his lost book.

"NO READING, MY RIVAL!" Guy bellowed in Kakashi's face. "Everyone pay attention to me! Anyone who doesn't listen or misbehaves will attend my supplementary classes!"

At the thought of having to endure another lecture with Might Guy, every single male in the room suddenly sat up straighter. Even Shikamaru, who was slouching a couple of seconds ago.

"So, before I start, I want to call on my two assistants for this training," Guy continued. "My two handsome students, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji!"

"REALLY?!" Lee said, bursting into tears and running towards Guy with open arms. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRUST, GUY-SENSEI!"

"Of course!" Guy said, also sobbing and embracing his look-alike. "You are my deputy Master of Romance!"

Neji did not move an inch from his seat, his face ashen like he was about to throw up.

"Come on, Neji!" Lee said. "We need to do this!"

"Yes, Neji!" Guy added. "Or else you would never get over your incestuous obsession with Hinata-chan!"

The entire room exploded at that statement. No one expected this piece of gossip pertaining to the stoic Hyuuga boy. Members of the Hyuuga clan who were present in the meeting were all gaping at Neji.

"I don't have an incestuous obsession with Hinata-sama!" Neji shouted angrily, silencing the taunts, laughter, and questions.

"Now, now," Guy said as Neji sauntered towards them with a deadly expression on his face. "Let's start with the lesson."

And in an instant, Lee was dressed up in a laid-back, casual male attire while Neji was dressed as a girl.

And the entire room exploded again in fits of hysterical laughter. Hyuuga Neji did, in fact, look like a girl – and a very beautiful lady at that.

"W-why…?" Neji gasped, falling on all-fours.

"We have to make the lesson more realistic with demonstrations!" Guy exclaimed. "So you all know why you're here. The Hokage is concerned about the decreasing population of shinobi because most of the males aren't too proactive when it comes to the romance department. We need more shinobi families for more shinobi babies!"

Uchiha Sasuke was reddening at the implications. That was when Naruto whispered to his ear, "Didn't you always say that you wanted to restore the huge numbers of the Uchiha clan? You know that you should actually have sex and get a woman pregnant before increasing your numbers, teme."

At that, Naruto yelled once again as Sasuke kicked his already bruised shins.

"This lesson will provide you with useful tips to woo the girl of your dreams!" Might Guy explained. "You have 100% chance of succeeding with this!"

"More like 100% chance of ending up like Guy-sensei," Kiba murmured, causing Shikamaru to chuckle.

"Don't you laugh at my methods, Shikamaru-kun," Guy said when he noticed Shikamaru's mirth. "These methods are tried and tested. They are also the answers the female ninjas gave when they took the survey that Hokage-sama gave."

"Survey?" Naruto repeated excitedly. "So it means that I'll get to know what Sakura wants in a man?"

Sasuke frowned at his former teammate, pissed that he was still going on about the pink-haired kunoichi. Itachi noticed this and whispered something to Kakashi, whose visible eye crinkled in amusement.

"Get ready for step one!" Guy continued. "Lee! Neji!"

"HAI!" Lee responded.

"Hai…" Neji replied weakly, still embarrassed by the dress he was forced to wear.

"The first step is…" Guy said, spinning on the spot for dramatic effect, "CASUAL KINDNESS!"

_Enter skit mode… __**(A/N: if you watch/read Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth, you'll know what I mean)**_

_A fine autumn day suddenly goes awry when it rained._

"_Oh no," Nejie sadly said. "I have no umbrella."_

_Lee, who happened to pass by with his black umbrella, took one look at Nejie's sad expression and approached her. "Good afternoon, Nejie-chan. Is something the matter?"_

"_I didn't know that it was going to rain," Nejie replied. "I didn't bring my umbrella."_

"_Is that so?" Lee said then kindly smiled. "Would you like to share my umbrella? I'll drop you off wherever you're going."_

"_Really?" Nejie said, perking up. "Thank you so much!"_

"_My pleasure," Lee said, offering his hand. "Anything for you."_

_Nejie blushed._

_End of skit._

"There you have it!" Guy said. "Be casually kind. Show the girl how much you pay attention to her needs and offer help when necessary!"

At the end of the small presentation, Lee was grinning from ear to ear while Neji was brick red in the face, clearly wanting to end his life because of humiliation. It didn't help that members of his own clan were here, witnessing their genius clansman being reduced to a cross-dresser.

"Make sure you always pack your umbrella," Lee added. "You don't know when it'll rain and you don't want to get a cold."

"I don't think that was the point, Lee!" Kiba barked at the taijutsu user.

"MOVING ON!" Guy yelled, interrupting Kiba and standing on the teacher's table. "It's been a complaint amongst the kunoichi that guys don't take the initiative and they aren't gentlemanly enough! Remember that kunoichi are _women! _They still need respect, and tender, loving care!"

"I show that to Sakura all the time and all I get are bruises," Naruto stated.

"That's because you still passion, Naruto!" Guy responded.

"On the contrary," Shikamaru interjected, "I think you're getting beat up because of _too much _passion."

"Says you," Naruto teased, "you've got no passion at all and look where you are. Single since birth!"

"Relationships are too troublesome," Shikamaru said. "And it's not as if you've had a girlfriend yourself, baka."

"YOSH! STOP FIGHTING!" Guy loudly said, landing his fist on top of Shikamaru's and Naruto's heads. "The second step is… KEEP HER HAPPY WITH PRESENTS!"

_Enter skit mode #2…_

_Lee was running along a deserted street, his face creased in worry as he carried a beautifully-wrapped present._

_He stopped as he saw Nejie's back a few steps away. He approached her, covering her eyes with his hand._

"_Guess who?"_

"_Mou," Nejie said, pouting, "stop playing with me, Lee-kun."_

"_He he," Lee chuckled. "I've got something for you."_

"_What?" Nejie asked. "It's not my birthday, Lee-kun."_

"_Do I need to have a reason to give you this?" Lee said, handing over the gift._

_Nejie's eyes widened and she smiled. "Thank you, Lee-kun! What is it?"_

"_Why don't you open it?"_

"_Hm!" Nejie said with a nod, opening the present carefully. Inside was a new dress that was colored pink._

_Nejie gasped in amazement. "It's wonderful, Lee-kun! Thank you!"_

_And at that, Nejie hugged Lee._

_End of skit._

Neji instantly pushed Lee away, nearly making the latter fall on his ass. The entire room was sniggering at the overly dramatic scene.

"Stop laughing!" Guy said. "This is the type of attitude that's the cause of your loneliness. Women hate it when men don't understand what excites them! You need to know how to push a woman's buttons and to do that, we must always present them with gifts!"

"That sounded more perverted than romantic," Kakashi murmured.

"Aren't you just buying their affections?" Shikamaru pointed out.

"That's exactly it, Shikamaru-kun!" Guy replied. "Women are, more often than not, shallow and easily moved by gifts!"

"And that's more insulting than uplifting," Itachi told Kakashi, who nodded in agreement.

Sasuke wanted to get out of the room so badly. He could spend his time with more productive things such as training his body's endurance in sustaining the Susano'o. He didn't care about women. If the time was right, he'll just find a mate that will bear future Uchiha children. All that he was concerned about was that if that kunoichi was strong so that the genes the both of them will pass on will create talented individuals.

"Besides that," Lee interrupted, "the best gifts to give a woman are ingredients to make a curry. That way she'd think of making curry and you'd get a meal out of it. It's going to be great practice when you two become married."

The room sweatdropped at the awful suggestion.

"So the third tip is," Guy happily continued, "BE OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS."

_Enter skit mode #3…_

_Lee and Nejie were at a park, strolling after a meal in their favorite restaurant._

"_Did you have fun, Nejie-chan?" Lee asked gently, holding her hand._

"_Yes, I did," Nejie replied, smiling at her companion._

"_I hope for more times like this," he confessed, blushing slightly. "More dates, I mean."_

_Nejie's face tinged with pink. "I-I hope so too."_

_The two walked further to a secluded area in the park. It was near a cliff and it overlooked a spectacular view of Konohagakure at night._

"_Wow!" Nejie exclaimed. "This is beautiful!"_

"_I thought you'd like it," Lee said with a boyish grin. "I come here often. When I want to think."_

_Nejie looked at him. "What are you thinking about now?"_

"_How beautiful you are," Lee blurted out, looking towards the bright lights below. "And how much I like you."_

_Nejie smiled shyly at that. "I-I like you too, Lee-kun."_

_End of skit._

"No kissing scene?!" Naruto taunted as Kiba wolf-whistled.

"HAKKE KYUSHOU! _(Eight Trigrams Air Palm)_" Neji yelled, effectively pushing Naruto and Kiba to the opposite end of the room, destroying a couple of tables and denting the wall in the process.

"That's going to come out of your paycheck," Kotetsu said, making a note in his pad. It was apparent that he was writing down a report of what was happening in the lecture.

"Stop teasing Neji, you guys," Lee reprimanded. "He's a very beautiful transvestite. More beautiful than an actual woman, in fact. Right, Neji?"

"Y-you…" Neji said, a deadly aura surrounding him. "HAKKE ROKUJUU-YON SHO! _(Eight Trigrams, Sixty-four Palms)"_

With this attack, Lee slid down the floor in a boneless mess.

"LEE!" Guy yelled, running towards his fallen student. Neji had already taken off his dress and was moving back to his original seat. It seemed that he had reached the end of his patience and there were now no actors for the demonstrations. Lee was then carried out of the room by two chuunin-level shinobi who were standing guard outside the door.

"Oh dear," Itachi sighed. "Who's going to do your demonstrations now, Guy-san?"

Guy finally stopped sobbing, standing up and picking Neji's neglected dress. Shocking everyone in the room, he spun around. When he stopped, he was already wearing the dress and what's more, he was wearing a long, curly wig and thick makeup. He bounded across the room, with the male shinobi understanding what he was doing and moving away in different directions. Kakashi, who was secretly reading a book, did not notice Guy diving towards him. In a crash, he was caught in Guy's tight embrace.

"You're going to be my man, Kakashi!" Guy triumphantly declared.

"Ugh," Sasuke said, paling considerably.

"Two old men acting like lovers," Naruto added, taking on the same shade as his best friend.

"That's even worse than Neji and Lee," Kiba supplied, looking away.

"NOW, THE FOURTH STEP!" Guy roared with renewed vigor. "BE A LITTLE FORCEFUL AT TIMES!"

"WHAT?!" Kakashi yelped. "Don't tell me…!"

"Exactly Kakashi!" Guy laughed. "You have to catch me off-guard with an embrace! Or even better, you can trap me in your arms and kiss me!"

It was a miracle that Hatake Kakashi didn't run a Chidori through Guy's stomach. But in an instant, the demonstrations effectively ended. When the dust settled, everyone gasped as they saw Guy's body twisted around like a pretzel.

"N-nice, Kakashi," Guy managed to choke out, his lipstick and eye shadow smeared across his face. "W-well, all that's left is homework."

"Homework?!" the entire room repeated.

"Yes," Guy said, barely managing to extricate himself from the painful position. "You are each to perform the four steps on a kunoichi."

That earned a plethora of loud and violent reactions amongst the male shinobi.

Everyone except, of course, Naruto. "YOSHA!" the knucklehead celebrated. "I'll get to flirt with Sakura-chan!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, slamming his fist against Naruto's face.

"No, no, no," Guy said smugly, finally able to stand up. "You don't get to pick the kunoichi. The Guymometer will choose your partner for you! But of course, the ladies don't know that you're going to conduct an assignment on them – "

"Better that they don't know," Shikamaru mumbled.

" – and you'll be under surveillance, so there's no way that you're going to skip out on this," the hyperactive jounin-sensei said. "You'll be tailed by a shinobi that will record your progress on video and send it to me. That way, I'll get to see if you really did your homework. Then, you have to write a summary on your findings and conclusions. These will be read by Tsunade-sama herself."

"Guess we have no choice," Kakashi moaned wearily.

"We can kill the bastard who trails us," Sasuke suggested.

Itachi smiled mysteriously at his brother. "You can't. These are _my men _you're talking about, Sasuke. Even though I will be inconvenienced myself, I don't think it's fair that you take it out on them. They're just doing their job."

"Tch. I was only kidding," Sasuke spat.

"And what the heck is a Guymometer?!" Naruto demanded.

"THIS!" Guy said, waiting as Kotetsu wheeled in a Guy-shaped television set.

"That's just an ugly TV," Kiba butted in.

"Ho ho!" Guy laughed. "It's not just ordinary television. It will show you who you're paired up with."

"You could just very well have pre-recorded the entire thing," Shikamaru said. "What's the basis of the selection anyway?"

Guy pointedly ignored this, making it clear towards the men that the pairing was indeed rigged.

"And now!" he ground out. "Let's start!"

And that was the reason they ended up with the following pairings:

Kakashi with Anko. This made the Copy Ninja sweat bullets at the concept of wooing the headstrong former pupil of Orochimaru.

Itachi with Shizune. The head of the Uchiha clan merely smirked, devising ways to take down the unsuspecting medic-nin and enjoying the task thoroughly as if it were a mission.

Sasuke with Sakura. This made Naruto scream obscenities at the Guymometer while attempting to break it. On the other hand, Sasuke had a glint in his eyes that only Itachi and Kakashi noticed.

Naruto with Hinata. This nearly made Neji choke Naruto to death with threats while the blonde dobe was still complaining as to why he did not get Sakura. Deep inside, he was anxious because he didn't know what to say to Hinata after her confession during Pain's attack.

Neji with Tenten. This made Neji stop in his attempts to murder Naruto and contemplate heavily on the possible match and how it would impact the future of the Hyuuga clan.

Kiba with Ino. The pairing was surprising to all and to the male shinobi himself. He was seriously considering digging himself a hole, not wanting to confront the possibility of Ino finding out that everything was an assignment.

Shikamaru with Temari. This was met by a raised eyebrow and a question as to how he would accomplish the assignment with his target an entire nation away.

During the entire process, Guy was just grinning widely. The guys didn't know that the reason behind their pairing was all because of Tsunade. The Hokage went on a covert mission to find out who each and every one of her kunoichis (especially those who were closest to her) liked and took it upon herself to play the matchmaker by pushing her men in the right direction. They should really get a move on and not let the ladies do all the work!

When all of them were paired off to a kunoichi, they were booted off the room by Guy, who was cackling like a maniac.

"This smells fishy," Kakashi said under his breath.

"Lighten up, Kakashi-senpai," Itachi said, slapping the man on the back. "Just enjoy the exercise and do it flawlessly."

"How can you even _do _something like that flawlessly?" Kiba grumbled, seeing his life flash before his eyes if he messed up with Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino-chan is pretty sweet," Itachi said. "I'm sure you'll have a great time."

"Easy for you to say," the dog-tamer said. "She's always been nice to you coz you're good-looking and you're Sasuke's brother."

Itachi laughed at that. "With that attitude, you'll never get the girl."

"You're acting like an expert, nii-san," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"And you look _really _happy, Sasuke," Itachi said with a wink. Sasuke glared at his nii-san.

Naruto was surprisingly silent. His comrades were now looking at him in puzzlement. He really didn't know how fate could be such a dick. Why would anyone want to pair him up with Hinata? With Sakura, he had no trouble being flirtatious but with Hinata, it was like his tongue rolled up in his mouth. He really didn't know how to act around her after she told him that she loved him. Heck, he didn't even know how he felt about her. He was pretty sure that whatever he would do would end up in a disaster, but in a way that he can't brush off or maybe even recover from. He wanted to be better. He wanted to do better. And that was what worries him.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, grasping Naruto's right shoulder.

The blonde-haired jounin looked over his shoulder and grinned at his teacher. "I'm fine! I'm just thinking about dinner."

They all knew that he was lying but they let it pass. "Let's go have some dinner," Kiba insisted.

"Yeah, I have to eat already," Shikamaru said. "I want to get this assignment thing over with and go to Suna. Why is it that I get the most troublesome task?"

"It's because you're lazy and you complain too much," Neji said. "And besides, you're always with Temari-san so I think there's already something going on with you."

Shikamaru sighed. "So where are we gonna eat?"

"Ichiraku's, of course," Naruto said.

"My kidneys are gonna burst from eating there too often," Kiba complained.

"Oh shut up, Inuzuka," Sasuke said. Kakashi's eye crinkled once more. Sasuke had a knack of finding a way to make Naruto happy while not sacrificing his cool exterior. This statement of his effectively shot down Kiba's objections.

"Ichiraku's it is," Kakashi affirmed, leading the young men out of the building.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hokage office…

"How was it, Kotetsu, Guy?" Senju Tsunade asked.

"It was a-okay, Hokage-sama," Guy cheerfully answered.

"They didn't suspect anything?"

"Kakashi-san did," Kotetsu said.

"Of course he did," Tsunade said, biting her lower lip. "Nothing ever slips past that man."

"But he didn't say anything more," Kotetsu added.

"He follows rules above all others, my rival does," Guy said, grinning. "He won't go against the Hokage's command."

"Where's Shizune-san?" Kotetsu asked, smiling slightly.

"I gave her a day off," Tsunade answered.

"Wouldn't she be suspicious that you suddenly gave her a day off?" the younger jounin inquired.

"She's suspicious alright but I don't really care," Tsunade brushed the question off. "She's just under the impression that I have something top secret to attend to that even she doesn't have to know."

"Nice thinking, Tsunade-sama," Guy said, putting up his thumb approvingly.

Kotetsu knew that Shizune would never bite into that line of reasoning. She was a perceptive kunoichi and she knew that the Hokage trusted her with _everything. _And since they were in a peaceful time, there was no such thing as a very urgent and top secret talk or mission that even Shizune wasn't allowed to know.

"Are the spies stationed?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," Kotetsu replied. "Everything's ready."

"Good."

After a few more discussions, the two left. Might Guy was very approving of the entire proceedings. He wanted his peers to find love and settle down. Kotetsu, on the other hand, didn't really understand why the Hokage would waste time in playing a matchmaker. However, she did have a very good reason behind wanting to do this. It was true that the decreasing number of shinobi candidates in the future is problematic, added with the fact that not every child who had the hereditary skill or potential had a passion for taking it up as a profession.

All that was left now was how and when the men will strike.

Tsunade laughed

_They didn't even ask Guy __**when **__the meeting was to discuss the results of their assignment._

_Not to mention the fact that they didn't even suspect __**that.**_

* * *

**Yayyy! :D Please leave a review!**


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